Xi’an joins China’s Top 10 tourist cities

When Ctrip.com, a popular travel website, and the China Tourism Academy announced their Popularity Ranking of Tourist Cities, on Feb 21, during this year’s Spring Festival, it showed a robust increase in tourism activity during the holidays and had Xi’an, in Shanxi province ranking high.

The compilers of the list collected tourist facts and behavior during the Spring Festival holidays, from more than 250 million people, and found that people are beginning to choose travel destinations that are farther away than in previous years. For instance, one couple born in the ‘80s' travelled to Antarctica for Spring Festival, making them the “go-farthest” travelers and “biggest” consumers, spending more than 160,000 yuan ($25,584) on just one trip.

Joining Xi'an on the top 10 tourist-city list are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, Chengdu in Sichuan, Harbin in Heilongjiang, Nanjing in Jiangsu, Hangzhou in Zhejiang, and Kunming in Yunnan. The list also included the Top 10 domestic tourist destinations -- Xi’an, Beijing, Xiamen in Fujain, Sanya in Hainan, Shanghai, Kunming, Harbin, Lijiang in Yunnan, Guangzhou and Guilin in Guangxi.

People have show a greater taste and passion for travel this Spring Festival, compared to last year, with the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen being the most favored. And some second-tier cities or lower also witnessed an increase in the number of travelers, especially Xi’an and Kunming.